The Everlasting Story
by Ai Haun-Lang
Summary: Things have settled down for Hiead, Notoku, and Miroku. But, have one of them come to some realization that could ruin their friendship forever?


In a nice quiet home, in a silent peaceful village- "COME BACK HERE YOU  
  
ASSHOLE!!!!!!!!" Well ok, maybe not peaceful. But in a house, in a noisy part of the  
  
woods, a family lived. A family compiled of orphans, demons, and werewolves. This  
  
residence is home to a large number of people. There's the girls, Notoku, Meiko, Ai,  
  
Reirei, Kumo, Void, Ryuki, and Pill. Then there's the boys, Miroku, Suichi, Hiead, Kuro,  
  
Bit, and Mirai. As you can see, quite a packed place.   
  
Our story begins one average morning. The youngest boy, Suichi age 9, was being  
  
chased around my the youngest girl, Ai age 12. He stole a certain article of clothing from  
  
her room. Well, I guess we'll start from what we heard a moment ago...  
  
"COME BACK HERE YOU ASSHOLE!!!!!" Ai yelled as she chased the small  
  
boy through the halls. "Hah hah, nani, you want this back?" Shichi teased holding up a  
  
bra. "YOU ASS!!!!" Ai yelled angrily as she tackled him, snatching away her personals.   
  
They landed right in front of the bathroom. Reirei age 15 came out with a small tanktop  
  
on and a pair of short shorts on, and her toothbrush hanging from a side of her mouth.   
  
She leaned against the wall staring at them. "Do you two have to do this every morning?   
  
You interrupt my beauty sleep, interrupt me when I'm making myself even more beautiful  
  
in the mornings. Can I just get a moments peace? Honestly, it's like you want me to be  
  
ugly. Though we all know that's impossible." Reirei continued lecturing them, Suichi and  
  
Ai stayed in their tackled positions on the floor in front of her. Ai nodded her head not  
  
really caring, but knowing Reirei would probably hurt her if she was ignored. Suichi  
  
though, being in his youth, had a huge, magorly obvious crush on Reirei. Ai stood and left  
  
when Reirei finished talking about how pretty she was.   
  
Downstairs, the two oldest in the house were setting the table and cooking  
  
breakfast. The oldest girl, Notoku age 24, and the oldest boy, Hiead age 25, took their  
  
time, trying to make everything nice for everyone. Notoku was cooking the breakfast, and  
  
Hiead was cleaning dishes and setting the table. Notoku sang a cheerful song as she  
  
dusted her flour covered hands on her apron. Hiead walked in to get the plates to set out  
  
on the table. He blushed when he saw Notoku looking like a housewife. He blushed even  
  
more when she turned to him smiling and said, "The food's going to be ready soon!"   
  
Hiead thought to himself, "I wonder if this is how life would be if we were married..." He  
  
nearly dropped the plates he was holding as he thought about it. Since they were both  
  
about six years old, he had a crush on her. As he stood there watching he felt a tug on his  
  
sleeve. He turned around to see another old friend of his, she hadn't been his friend as  
  
long as Notoku, but almost. Her name was Meiko age 18. "What's with you, you thinkin  
  
hentai stuff about Toki-chan?" She laughed and Hiead fumbled his plates SD faced. He  
  
set them down fast and covered Meiko's mouth with his large hand. "Hmm, did you say  
  
something Meiko-chan?" Notoku's asked. Meiko looked up at Hiead with a sly look in  
  
her eye. Hiead pleaded with his eyes for her not to tell. She looked as if she was about to  
  
tell, but then said, "Oh, it's nothing Toki-chan. I was just talking to Hiead-san about how  
  
wonderful breakfast smells. Weren't we Hiead?" Hiead nodded and went back to setting  
  
the table.  
  
Notoku was one of the demons of the house. Her demon side was easily seen.   
  
She had a cat tail and ears, and absolutely lovely azure hair. Hiead was also a demon,  
  
infact, he was a very powerful one. But it was almost impossible to tell. He has normal  
  
ears, normal teeth and nails, and normal eyes. But when he gets mad enough, he turns  
  
into one of the most beautiful demons you have ever seen, with his glistening silver hair.   
  
He didn't even know it until he was 17 years old. Ever since then, he trys not to get mad.   
  
He thinks about things before he lets himself get angry, that way he doesn't loose control.   
  
Now he and all the others were living happily. No fighting, accept for the occasional,  
  
argument. Notoku usually handled those though. All the older girls thought of her as a  
  
big sister, all the younger girls thought of her more like a mother. Meiko and Ryuki had  
  
been friends with Notoku longer than everyone, accept Hiead and Miroku. Ryuki was a  
  
normal girl who was an orphan. She lived by stealing from tourists. She tried to steal  
  
from Notoku, but the deamonly instinct kicked in and they caught her. Afterwards,  
  
Notoku asked her if she would like to come with her, and stay at their house. Ryuki is  
  
now 18, like Meiko.  
  
Up in the room where all the girls stay, Kumo age 15 was sitting against a wall on  
  
her bed drawing, still in her pajamas. Void, age 13 was brushing her sun colored, red hair  
  
in front of a mirror. After pulling it up into pig tails she turned back to the others. "So,  
  
Pill, Kumo, you like my hair better like this, or in a ponytail?" Kumo continued sketching  
  
in her book, and Pill age 16 who was still under the effects of a drinking spree last night,  
  
chewed her pillow, half asleep. "Come on, you guys can atleast help! How do I know if  
  
what I'm doing with my hair looks good or not?!" Kumo looked up as Void complained.   
  
She suddenly was shocked by the wall she was leaning against quickly convulsing and  
  
shaking violently. This caused her to smudge her picture. She clenched her fist and  
  
rammed her elbow into the wall causing the boys in the next room to start wining about  
  
how loud the girls were being. Pill finally started to actually wake up. But still remained  
  
chewing on her pillow.  
  
In the next room over, the boys bunked. Miroku age 25 was still asleep, despite  
  
the noise. Bit age 12, was Ai's older twin brother. He and Kuro age 15 banged on the  
  
wall trying to annoy the girls into hitting the wall again. Mirai age 17 sat on the corner of  
  
his bed, still half asleep. "You guys, come on, you kept me up all night!" Mirai whined.   
  
"Shut up, we all know why you were up all night. You're sick," Kuro laughed, making fun  
  
of Mirai for being yaoi. "Hiead doesn't like me so I have no idea what you're implying.   
  
You two though, you were yelling and jumping around all night. I have no idea how  
  
Miroku-sama got any sleep!" Mirai looked over at Miroku who was still sleeping. "Well, I  
  
guess sleeping in the forest and traveling in the open, and taking care of Toki-chan makes  
  
him appreciate the sleep he can get here." "Or maybe he's just hung over," Bit  
  
commented. They gave up on hitting the wall and walked back to the middle of the room.   
  
"Hey Kuro and I are gonna go play some video games. You wanna come Mirai?" Bit  
  
asked. Mirai shook his head. Bit and Kuro looked at each other, they nodded and each  
  
grabbed one of Mirai's arms. "N-NANI????" Mirai struggled to get loose, but to no avail.   
  
He was dragged into the living room and handed a PS2 controller. Then he was forced to  
  
play DDR until his legs were jelly. The girls eventually came down. Pill and Kumo  
  
watched the boys play games. Void walked into the kitchen and started talking to  
  
Notoku. "Oi, Toki-chan. What's for breakfast?" she asked. Notoku stepped aside to  
  
show a spread of eggs, toast, waffles, omelets, pancakes, and sausage. Void's jaw  
  
dropped and her mouth started to water. "Can't wait! When's it gonna be ready?" Void  
  
asked eagerly. "Soon, don't worry," Notoku replied smiling. Void didn't envy most  
  
people, but she couldn't help envying Notoku. She wished she could be as pretty as her,  
  
and how Notoku always seemed so happy. She was a good cook and was good at settling  
  
fights around the house. Void just wanted to be like her. She left the room so Notoku  
  
could finish cooking. She walked out into the living room and found the boys forcing  
  
Mirai to play DDR. "Hey, you were gonna dance and didn't invite me?" she asked with  
  
her arms crossed. Kuro pointed at an empty dace mat and Void hopped on it and set the  
  
game for two player.  
  
In the dinning room, Hiead and Meiko had just finished setting the table.   
  
"Hiead-san, I still can't believe you haven't told Toki-chan that you like her. It's been  
  
almost twenty years!" Meiko sighed. "Hey, it's really hard you know. I can't just tell her,  
  
it's, I dunno. I mean she and I are like brother and sister. It just doesn't seem right. You  
  
know what I mean?" Hiead explained. Meiko just sighed and shook her head. She walked  
  
out of the room and went to go watch the others play DDR. Hiead walked into the  
  
kitchen, "Toki-chan, I'm done setting the table. Is there anything else I can do?" "Oh,  
  
could you help me bring some of this food out? It's a bit much for me," she laughed.   
  
Hiead smiled at her and carried some of the food to the table. Notoku brought the drinks  
  
and like she had done so many times before, poured a variation of coffee, tea, and juice,  
  
and she never forgot Hiead's special drink, a bottle of sake every morning at breakfast.   
  
Hiead got the rest of the food and set it out. Then Notoku and Hiead looked the table  
  
over to make sure they weren't forgetting anything. Notoku smiled and called for  
  
everyone, "Come on guys, the food's ready!!" Then the whole house shook as they all ran  
  
for the table. The boys instantly reached for pancakes and eggs. The girls, having a bit  
  
more dignity, waited till the boy's finished ravaging the plates. Then the girls carefully  
  
took what they wanted and ate quietly and politely. Notoku took a bite of her waffle and  
  
looked around. She noticed that one of the seats was empty. She turned to Hiead who  
  
was sitting next to her, "Ne, where's Miroku-chan?" Hiead looked over and noticed he  
  
wasn't there, "Maybe he's still asleep. I'll go get him." Hiead broke away from his bottle  
  
of sake and got up from the table and walked back to the room and found Miroku in his  
  
bed. "Oi! Wake up. Toki-chan, made breakfast. Come on or you're gonna miss it!"  
  
Miroku opened an eye and looked at Hiead. He opened the other and sat up. He yawned  
  
then stood up and stretched. Miroku and Hiead showed up minutes later at the table and  
  
joined everyone. Miroku was more quiet than usual, Notoku watched him a bit worried.   
  
The meal ended and they all went off to do what they wanted. Notoku and Hiead cleaned  
  
up. Miroku walked in and offered to help. "Miroku-chan? Is something wrong? You  
  
seemed a bit upset today," Notoku asked concerned. Miroku just flashed her a smile and  
  
said, "I'm just fine Toki-chan, just kinda tired." She nodded knowing that something had  
  
to be wrong. Miroku semed depressed, and he was usually happy, without a care in the  
  
world.   
  
Later Pill, Kuro, Mirai, and Meiko went to their jobs. Notoku cleaned up from  
  
this morning, Hiead and Miroku went to get food and some other things that they needed  
  
in the market. "Ah, if anyone else had asked me to do this I woulda told them to go to  
  
hell! But, Toki-chan asked me, so I had to do it. Boy, it's funny how loving someone can  
  
make you do whatever they ask!" Hiead laughed. Miroku had his head low not even  
  
laughing with Hiead like they normally would do. "Ne, Mi-chan, you're acting strange...   
  
What's up?" Miroku looked up, he was blushing a bit. "H-have you told Toki-chan you  
  
love her yet?" he asked in a small voice. "Nah, I can't. We've been friends so long, it's like  
  
a brother telling his sister he loves her." Hiead replied smiling. "Oh, ok..." Miroku seemed  
  
almost happy to hear this. "Why did you wanna know?" Hiead asked him, a bit confused.   
  
"Oh, just wondering. No real reason," Miroku smiled. They want around and picked up  
  
everything they needed and went home.  
  
Hiead was a bit slow on the uptake, that was good for Miroku. In these more  
  
peaceful days, Notoku's motherly attitude and look was getting to Miroku. He had fallen  
  
in love with Notoku, only, he was unafraid to admit it. He had been telling himself that if  
  
Hiead wouldn't confess to Notoku soon, Miroku, would steal her! He had become  
  
tiresome of their unintentional advances on each other. Once Notoku had been carrying  
  
laundry out of the laundry room, Hiead saw and decided to help her. Upon reaching for  
  
the basket Notoku tripped and ended up dropping the laundry basket on Hiead and sitting  
  
on his stomach. Not until the basket had been removed and Notoku had her face inches  
  
from Hieads, trying to clean a small cut on his cheek, did either of them notice what was  
  
going on. After that they shuffled off blushing in opposite directions. Miroku was sick of  
  
it, he had made it final; He was taking Notoku for himself!  
  
"Hiead, can I talk to you?" Miroku asked after he and Hiead finished putting  
  
everything away for Notoku who was taking a well-deserved nap in the living room.   
  
Hiead nodded to his good friend and they went outside to talk. Nearby their house, there  
  
was a small river. Miroku lead Hiead to the edge of it and threw a stone in. "What did  
  
you wanna talk about Mi-chan?" Hiead asked. "Are you evere going to tell Toki-chan you  
  
love her?" he stared blankly at the water, Hiead didn't notice his empty eyes though.   
  
Hiead picked a river smoothed rock and threw it, as it skipped four times he replied,  
  
"Maybe, it doesn't really matter... I care about her and I'm here to protect her. You  
  
know, in case something like that Nakira, Satoshi and Stuturu incident happens again. I  
  
guess, even if she doesn't feel the same way about me, I'm happy just to be this close to  
  
her after all this time..." Hiead sat by the edge and watched the water flow past, breaking  
  
every so often on the rocks. Miroku almost got angry, he had been keeping all his feelings  
  
in, never daring to show the tinniest bit of emotion. "Hiead," Miroku's voice was stern  
  
and more serious than Hiead had ever heard before. "Yeah Mi-chan, what's wrong? You  
  
sound different..." At that exact moment, Miroku seized is collar and with a rage stained  
  
glare barked viciously at him, "You think you can keep playing stupid like this!? If you  
  
really wanted to make her happy then you should, she loves you too, she told me! You're  
  
hurting her, can't you see that!? I'm sick of it, she's mine now, I'll make Toki belong to  
  
me!!" Hiead was too shocked to say anything right away. Finally he found his voice,  
  
"Mi-chan, what are you saying?" With those words a rock solid fist crushed Hiead cheek  
  
making blood drip from his mouth. As he bent to cough out the rest of it Miroku's knee  
  
met his stomach. The shock of Miroku's strength being able to injure Hiead demon body  
  
the way it did was unbelievable. As Hiead fell to an unconscious bloody heap on the  
  
ground, Miroku grabbed his collar yet again. He lifted Hiead and watched as, even though  
  
he was unconscious, Hiead was crying at his friends cruelty. Unfazed by this, Miroku  
  
smiled menacingly and threw Hiead into the river. He watched the nearly dead body be  
  
swept away by the torrent. Inside the hound, as she slept, Notoku uttered a single word  
  
with a saddened expression, "Hi...ad..." Miroku smiled once again as we walked back to  
  
the house, rather satisfied with his work.  
  
He found Notoku still asleep. With a much lightened heart he walked over and sat  
  
next to her on the couch. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke softly to  
  
her, "Toki-chan, time to wake up. I have to tell you something. It's about Hiead." At the  
  
mention of Hieads name Notoku's ears twitched and her eyes shot open. "Oh, Mi-chan...   
  
What's wrong? What did you need to tell me?" Anyone else would have been driven to  
  
tell the truth after looking into Notoku's big sapphire eyes, but Miroku told his story with  
  
a straight face and false remorse... "He told me that he couldn't stay any longer. He  
  
claimed that he felt restrained, and that he needed to live alone from now on, so he left. I  
  
tried to stop him, I really did, but he was too much..." He continued on with his lies,  
  
making Notoku cry harder and harder. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the  
  
top of her head. After her sobs had died down he told his final and most hurtful lie... "He  
  
said that above all the reason he didn't stay, was you. Because you love him the way you  
  
do, but you never tell. I told him it was because you yourself didn't know, but he said he  
  
couldn't stand to be around you. Then he left." She shook violently as her cries were  
  
muffled in Miroku's broad chest. He didn't let her go until her tears had subsided. But, it  
  
was then that he confessed himself to her... "Toki-chan, I know you're upset about Hiead,  
  
I am just as broken as you are, but I feel there is no other time I would be able to say  
  
this... I love you..." Notoku stared up at him, he locked with her eyes and watched her  
  
tears as they still welled in the corners of her deepened blue gaze. "I just want to be here  
  
for you, I don't want you to be hurt, I honestly, do love you..." Notoku wanted to say she  
  
didn't feel the same way, but she just couldn't. Instead she collapsed into his arms and  
  
cried until she fell asleep......  
  
The next morning, there was no smell of sweet cooking breakfast. None of the  
  
younger residents knew what was going on. When breakfast was finally being made, they  
  
found Miroku cooking. He looked happier than usual too. The girls were all huddled  
  
around Notoku's bed, talking to her and asking her if they could help. Her face had lost  
  
it's glow, her ears and tail fell limp on her pillow and bed. "Toki-chan, please can we do  
  
anything at all?" Pill asked. Notoku solemnly shook her head and pulled the blankets  
  
higher. "Toki-chan, is this because I kinda took that one shirt of yours and ripped it? If it  
  
is I'll work hard to pay you back!" Ai cried. She didn't reply. "Perhaps it's best we leave  
  
her alone," Kumo remarked showing concern, an uncommon trait for the emotionless girl.   
  
"Nothing's wrong with her!" Meiko yelled, she had been sitting on her bed across the  
  
room watching. She would remember the stories of her Hiead and Miroku when they  
  
traveled with that Nakira guy. She knew it must have been something bad to get her this  
  
depressed, but what could do that to her? "Yeah, you heard her, Toki's fine! Now, out  
  
you all go, she has to get changed for today," Ryuki commanded as she shooed them out  
  
of the room. Once they were gone she and Meiko want over to Notoku. "Ne, Toki-chan,  
  
what's wrong? And don't say 'Nothing' I'm not gonna buy that. Miki-chan and I know  
  
you better than that," Ryuki smiled at her. Meiko added, "Yeah, not even a pet dying gets  
  
you this upset. You can trust us, we won't tell..." Notoku sat up and looked at them  
  
both. They were suprised to see her looking like a grown-up. She always looked so  
  
young and immature, but with this new turn of emotion she looked like a real 24 year old  
  
woman. "Allright, please don't tell anyone ok? I don't want them all to worry..." Notoku  
  
sighed. Then nodded and Notoku told them the exact lie that Miroku had told her. By  
  
the end of the story they were both staring at her in disbelief.  
  
In the next room over Bit, Suichi and Kuro had their ears pressed against the wall.   
  
Once they told Mirai they heard Hieads name, not only was he listening too, but all the  
  
girls had come in to listen too. All the girls had done whatever they could to hear more  
  
but still only a few choice words made it through. Once it was over they all ended up  
  
toppled on top of each other when the door opened to show Ryuki with her arms crossed  
  
tapping her foot. "Is someone's dilemma that great of a thing?" she glared. They all felt  
  
ashamed of themselves. They all went down to the table to eat, a few moments later  
  
Notoku came down accompanied by Meiko. Notoku took a deep breath and smiled the  
  
way she always did at them, "Good morning, how are you all?" The boys all brightened at  
  
her cheery tone and smiled, but the girls just acted happy for Notoku's sake. They didn't  
  
want her to think she wasn't making them happy. Notoku sat in her regular spot and  
  
almost started to cry when she saw Hiead's seat with no sake bottle, and no Hiead smiling  
  
back at her. She had even started to imagine that he was sitting there reaching out his  
  
hand to her. But her dream was shattered when Miroku sat in Hiead's spot next to  
  
Notoku. "I suppose I should sit here right? I mean, in case you start feeling upset. I  
  
certainly don't want you to feel sad anymore!" he smiled. "Miroku-kun, what happened,  
  
where's Hiead-kun?" Ai asked quietly. "I guess this would be the best time to tell you all.   
  
Hiead has left, he had to go to his home village... You see, his demon instincts had begun  
  
to urge him somewhere, and it turned out to be his home. So he left. He thought that it  
  
would be too painful to say goodbye to you all, so he didn't," Miroku explained, every  
  
poisonous word made Notoku's heart wrench. She wanted to scream that Hiead wouldn't  
  
do that, but consideration for everyone around she smiled and sat quietly. Once Miroku  
  
finished his dramatic lie, a low mumbling broke out among the people at the table.  
  
Miroku sat down in Hiead's seat and smiled over at Notoku, "I had to sugar coat it  
  
for them. I know they wouldn't have been able to take it if they knew the truth." Notoku  
  
smiled at her long trusted friend, "Thank you Mi-chan." Miroku reached over and held  
  
Notoku's hand. Notoku didn't know what to do at first but as soon as realized what was  
  
happening, she drew her hand back. "Mi-chan, I'm sorry. You're just too much like a  
  
brother to me, it doesn't seem right..." she sighed. "Nothing wrong with incest," he left a  
  
small pause, "But it's ok, I'll wait." He smiled as he ate his food, he seemed to be the  
  
happiest one at the table. After breakfast was done everyone had started to act normal,  
  
like they had totally forgotten about Hiead.  
  
Several miles away, in a lakeside village, Cherry age 15 and her brother Kotaro age  
  
19 were playing in the towns lake. They had started a game of Marco Polo, Cherry dove  
  
under the water to escape her brother when she felt a hand brush her. Angrily she  
  
resurfaced, "Aniki!!! You had to have peeked to find me that fast!" Her brother and  
  
another little girl from the village stared blankly at her. "What are you talking about  
  
Neechan? I was about to tag Yumi," Kotaro said dumbfounded. Cherry went SD faced  
  
with fear as she reached her hand under the water. Indeed after a few seconds, she felt a  
  
humans face, she pulled her hand back up and found it to have blood on it! "Aniki!!!   
  
Yumi-chan!!! It cut my hand open!!!!!!!" she cried holding up her blood-stained hand.   
  
"Neechan, wash it off!" Kotaro yelled looking at her stupidly as she found no cuts on her  
  
hand. "Wait this means that it is a person, and they're hurt!!!" Cherry yelled as she dove  
  
back underwater and pulled up a large man's body. She dragged him through the water  
  
and up to her brother and friend. As they pulled him out, Yumi commented looking at  
  
him, "He's cute! Don't you think Cherry?" Cherry giggled and looked at him, he was  
  
indeed very good looking. But what she loved most was his hair, such a brilliant shade of  
  
silver. She had never seen hair like this boys before. "Ne, you two can swoon over him  
  
all you want, but lets get him inside and warmed up first," Kotaro scolded, since he was  
  
the one doing all the carrying.  
  
They took him inside and laid him on a spare bed. Yumi and Cherry watched him  
  
in case he woke up, and Kotaro got their parents. "Cherry found him in the lake, he is  
  
breathing, but I'm not sure how long he's been there," Kotaro explained. "Oh me, I'll go  
  
get him some warm cloths, girls you come with me while Father and Kotaro help him get  
  
out of those wet ones." The girls all left to get him some dry cloths, leaving Kotaro and  
  
his father in the room with the man. "Hurry up son, he's still alive, we don't want him to  
  
die," said the father. Kotaro nodded and they carefully took all his cold sopping wet  
  
cloths and hung them outside. Afterwards they cleaned the many cuts and bruises he had.   
  
"I'm no doctor but this one on his stomach doesn't look too good. What do you think?"  
  
he asked, pointing to a big bruise between his chest and stomach. It was quite a task to  
  
clean the man up, he had cuts all over his arms and chest. He even had a cut in his mouth,  
  
where it looked like he'd been hit. The girls came back in with cloths and extra blankets.   
  
"Wow, he has a nice body!" Yumi squeaked with an excited tone. As much as she wanted  
  
to agree, Cherry could see his body shaking and went back to her job. "Here's the cloths  
  
Papa. Mom got some on the thicker blankets to warm him up better. After a change of  
  
cloths and a toast pile of blankets the man began to wake up. He looked around and was  
  
a bit scared when he awoke in a place he didn't recognize. He saw a small girl with her  
  
head laying on his bedside, sleeping. For a split second the girl's face reminded him of  
  
something. He was only able to make one barely audible sound, "T-toki......chan......?"  
  
Cherry woke up and almost jumped wen she saw the man sitting up and staring at  
  
her. "Ano, I, er, you were, oh, what should I say? Oh, I sound like an idiot! Ack, I'm  
  
sorry my name's Cherry! I found you in a lake by my house. Ano where did you come  
  
from?" The boy smiled at her, "I don't know." "Do you have amnesia?" Cherry asked. "I  
  
suppose I do, I think my name is Hiead. And I'm 25 years old, that's all I know. You  
  
wouldn't happen to know why I was in that lake would you Cherry?" Hiead asked  
  
stupidly. His memory accept for a few small details was gone. He didn't even remember  
  
Notoku and he definitely didn't remember how Miroku betrayed him. "Cherry! Kotaro  
  
and I found something in his cloths! I think you might be interested in this!!" Yumi called  
  
and she and Kotaro stumbled into the room. Yumi instantly dropping what was in her  
  
hand to run over and introduce herself to Hiead. "Hello there, I'm very glad to see you're  
  
awake! My name is Yumi! I'm sure Cherry's told you all about me," she went on and on,  
  
Hiead couldn't do anything accept listen and nod. "Anyway, Neechan, look we found this,  
  
now that he's awake he can tell us what it's about! Here," Kotaro said as he handed Hiead  
  
and Cherry a picture. The picture was old and sun faded. There was a boy with long blue  
  
hair, pulled back into a braid, another boy with silver hair, but he looked more feminine  
  
than Hiead. On the other side was Hiead, and standing next to him was... Hiead started  
  
to feel full of anger. He didn't know why, but seeing this other man in the picture  
  
aggravated him deeply. He had mid-length brown hair, and a kind face, but Hiead hated  
  
him for some reason. His anger demented instantly when he looked at the last person in  
  
the picture. It was a girl, with long blue hair. Hiead hadn't noticed he was blushing , then  
  
he looked at what was on her head. They were cat ears, and behind her, swaying in the  
  
breeze, a cat tail! "She's the one we wanted to know about. What's with the ears and  
  
stuff?" Kotaro explained. "Yeah, is she a demon!?" asked Yumi. Cherry didn't say a  
  
word, she along with Hiead was still staring at the almost 8 year old photo.  
  
Hiead didn't say a word for a few minutes. His eyes had half-shut, and he had  
  
begun to blush even more as he stared at the smiling girl. "Who is she?" Yumi asked.   
  
"Yeah yeah! What's her name? Is she really a demon?" Kotaro chorused in. Hiead broke  
  
away from the picture. "I..." he paused. If Meiko or anyone of his friends had been there,  
  
they would have passed out. "I wish I knew. She is pretty isn't she?" Hiead smiled.   
  
"Damn! I was hoping to atleast get a name. I wanna meet her!" cursed Kotaro.   
  
"ANIKI!!!" Cherry yelled as she hit him hard in the back of the head. Hiead felt nostalgic  
  
as he watched them, it reminded him of something.   
  
That night he slept with the picture under his pillow, and had some really strange  
  
dreams. First, he was in a small house in a village that seemed very far away. He was  
  
sitting on the couch when the girl from the picture walked through the door, following  
  
behind her, was the boy with blue hair standing next to her in the picture. The girl was  
  
greeted by two very young girls who looked about ten years old. After they greeted the  
  
girl they huddled around the boy, tugging at his hair and pulling on his hands. Hiead saw  
  
them running towards him after they had been shooed off the blue-haired man. "Hi-kun!   
  
Arent you worried? Toki-chan brought home a boy!" said one of the girls. "Of course he  
  
isn't Meiko! Hi-kun and Toki-chan are too close for anyone to get between them!" said  
  
the other girl in a matter-of-fact tone. Hiead couldn't help it, for some reason he just  
  
smiled and ruffled the girls' hair. He got up and walked into the kitchen for some food as  
  
the blue-haired boy introduced himself to the crowd of people that had flocked around  
  
him. "Well, um, my name's Nakira..." was the last thing he heard before he went into the  
  
kitchen. He shut his eyes and laughed. He entered the kitchen and heard a small noise.   
  
He looked up and saw the cat-girl making tea. Without even thinking he said in his head,  
  
"Notoku's so great, I hope things stay like this..." He was about to talk to her when he  
  
heard a small sound, like singing. He listened to find out where it was coming from, and  
  
found that it was Notoku. He stood there and listened to her until Meiko came running in,  
  
fearing that he'd be seen, he slipped out the door.  
  
Once in the other room Hiead found himself face to face with a brown haired boy  
  
about 17 years old. "Hiead, what are you doing?" the boy laughed. Hiead didn't even give  
  
a seconds thought when, like he was reading a script, replied, "Nuthin at all Mi-chan! So  
  
anyway, what's the deal with that guy that Toki-chan brought home?" Miroku looked at  
  
him oddly, "His name's Nakira. Toki-chan met him on her way to work. Turns out they  
  
were attacked, and he helped her kill it." "Is that so... Hmmm." Hiead said quietly. "I  
  
heard Toki saying that he knew something about that Suturu girl. And they they're going  
  
to look for her, but that's about all I know," Miroku explained, "Well dinners ready, let's  
  
go eat!" Hiead shook his head, "I'm gonna go outside for a bit. I'll be back later." As he  
  
opened the front door some loud noise shocked him back into reality. He sat up in the bed  
  
and looked around, outside a thunderstorm had started, a loud lightning bolt striking a  
  
nearby tree was what woke him up. He rubbed his eyes and sighed, "So her name's  
  
Notoku? And the boys were Miroku and Nakira? How come I knew that, and why did I  
  
call him Mi-chan? Maybe I was gay...!" He didn't have much reason to doubt the  
  
thought, he didn't know how long he had been friends with him. "Perhaps I really was  
  
gay..."  
  
Back with Notoku and the others, there was a bad case of insomnia going around.   
  
Notoku sat wide awake staring out her window at the moon. As she let out a sigh  
  
someone knocked on the girls' room door. "Come in," Notoku said quietly as Suichi and  
  
Bit entered the room. "T-toki-chan, we both had a really bad dream..." Bit stammered as  
  
Suichi nodded behind him. "Come on now, arent you two a little old to be afraid of the  
  
dark?" she smiled at them. "Yes, but this dream was too real. It was like it really  
  
happened..." Suichi said quietly. Notoku stood up and walked over to them, "Lets go  
  
downstairs, I'll make some tea and you can tell me all about it, ok?"   
  
They went downstairs and sat at the table. Notoku made tea for herself and Bit  
  
and hot coco for Suichi. "Now what happened?" Notoku said after taking a sip from her  
  
tea. Bit started talking, "Well, we were asleep and we started having this weird dream.   
  
There were these two guys standing by a lake or something, they were fighting. One of  
  
the guys was getting really beat up and didn't even look like he was fighting back! Then  
  
the attacking guy threw him into the water and watched him her swept away! By that  
  
point I woke up and Shuchi was sitting on his bed looking scared." Notoku wasn't sure  
  
what to say, she knew that if Shuchi dreamt about something like this it was a really bad  
  
thing. Shuichi had a very strange power, he could dream about stuff that really happened  
  
in the past or will happen in the future, even if he hadn't seen it or heard about it, and his  
  
dreams were almost never wrong... Notoku started getting scared and wanted to know  
  
more. "Suichi? Did you recognize either of the people?" she asked. Shuchi shook his  
  
head slowly. "I know that they were really tall. Allot taller than most of the people here,"  
  
Bit answered. "Were they taller than Kuro and Mirai?" Notoku asked. Bit nodded,  
  
"Actually, they were Miroku and Hiead's height." Notoku didn't want to think about it  
  
anymore after that. "Well, you two have finished your drinks, I'm sure you won't have  
  
anymore dreams like that tonight. Time to go back to bed," she said as she cleaned up and  
  
hurried them up the stairs.  
  
The next morning at the lakeside house Hiead was up and walking around in his  
  
new attire. He was helping Cherry take in all the cloths that were drying outside. "Aniki  
  
and I looked at a map yesterday. There was a village on there that we think you may have  
  
come from, it's a little ways up the river, but it is possible that's how you got into the  
  
lake," Cherry told him as she unclipped a big light yellow blanket and started folding it.   
  
"Really, that would be helpful. Is it very far away?" Hiead asked. "Yeah about 20 miles,  
  
it won't be very easy to get you there," Cherry sighed shaking her head, "The roads there  
  
are really dangerous. The best way is to travel along the river, but even a horse can barely  
  
get around all the brush in the forest along the way." "I guess I'm walking then huh?"  
  
Hiead laughed. He picked up a basket and walked inside with Cherry following. "It's  
  
about time you two finished! Let's eat," Kotaro complained. Their mother and father  
  
were working in the village, so Cherry, Kotaro and Hiead took care of the house during  
  
the day. Hiead decided he should tell them about the dream he had, "Hey, I, um, think I  
  
got some of my memory back... I had a dream last night. I was allot younger, about 17  
  
years old and two of those guys and the girl from the picture were with me. The girl's  
  
name was Notoku, the boy with blue hair is Nakira, and the boy with brown hair was  
  
Miroku," he remembered that he called the boy Mi-chan and decided to ask them a very  
  
strange question, "Hey, you don't think I'm gay do you?" Cherry dropped her chopsticks,  
  
so did Kotaro. "I'm serious, I wanna know if I am or not," Hiead said with an irritated  
  
look.  
  
Kotaro scooted his seat closer toward Hiead. Hiead thought he looked really  
  
strange. He scooted over till his seat was touching Hieads then reached for his hand,  
  
grinning hugely. When Hiead saw the smile and felt him grabbing for his hand, he jumped  
  
up and pointed dramatically at Kotaro, "OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOD!!! OH MY  
  
GOOOOOOOOOOD!!! YOU'RE GAY!!! YOU'RE A FAG, YOU'RE A QUEER,   
  
YOU'RE, YOU'RE!!!!..... OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOD!!!" Hiead yelled as Cherry  
  
threw an empty bowl at her brothers head. "Will you shut up! I was trying to see if you  
  
were gay! That makes it really obvious you arent!" Kotaro yelled as he nursed a lump on  
  
his head. Hiead, still feeling violated, shifted his weight uneasily from side to side. "Well  
  
with all that aside, I think we should talk about how Hiead should get home," Cherry  
  
coughed. "I already said I would walk. Is there something else I need to know?" Hiead  
  
asked. Cherry shook her head as she exchanged looks with Kotaro across the table.  
  
Meanwhile, Notoku was thinking hard about the dream that Bit and Suichi had. It  
  
was strange that the dream was about two grown men, and one of them being carried  
  
away by a river. Notoku was sitting on the couch thinking about it when Miroku came  
  
walking in. "Oh, Mi-chan, I wanted to ask you something... It's about Hiead and why he  
  
disappeared," Notoku said as she stared somewhat blankly at him. Miroku froze, he was  
  
scared that she had found out what he did. He had started thinking about what he would  
  
say to her if she asked when he heard, "You don't know if he had any enemies from our  
  
trip eight years ago, do you? I think someone came after him, after he left you I mean."   
  
Miroku felt a great weight lifting off his shoulders, "I don't think so. If you have any  
  
leads, we can go look for him...if you'd like..." Miroku felt confident about looking for  
  
Hiead since he was almost certain Hiead was dead. 


End file.
